This invention relates to a percutaneous or transcutaneous connecting device as conceptually specified in claim 1, to possible uses of the device, and to a method as conceptually specified in claim 12.
In technical literature and patents one finds a wide variety of devices for access into the human body. Artificial access ports of that nature are needed for applications such as the administration of medication or the introduction of electrical signals or electrical energy into the body.
There is a basic difference between percutaneous and transcutaneous access ports. Percutaneous access ports extend in physical, mechanical fashion through the skin. Transcutaneous access does not usually involve access hardware but often employs the induction principle, creating an electrical connection between the inside of the body and its external surroundings.
Apart from their functional connection, such access ports are designed with particular consideration given to their assimilative compatibility at the point of implantation and to the need for minimizing the risk of infection. In addition, it must be possible for the patients, or for their medical care providers in any event, to make or break the connection as quickly as possible (user friendliness).
Both WO98/51367 and WO99/34754 propose purely mechanical plug-type junctions for connecting and disconnecting the access port. For attaching electrical lead wires as well as for administering fluids the junction must necessarily permit exposure to a certain minimum coupling pressure, thus requiring relatively complex designs and making the connect and disconnect operation awkward for the user. To avoid that, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,303 proposes, inter alia, to generate the necessary coupling pressure by magnetostatic means. To that effect, both the implanted part and the external plug-in element each contain a magnet that assures adequate coupling pressure. Guiding and aligning the external part relative to the implanted part of the access port is still done in mechanical fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,895 describes a transcutaneous connection consisting of a pair of flat, symmetrical coils which are aligned with a pair of symmetric, cylindrical permanent magnets. This latter design on its part is relatively complex and not user-friendly.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a percutaneous or transcutaneous connection with the body of a living being and especially of a human which avoids the above-mentioned drawbacks.
The objective of this invention is achieved by means of a connecting device as specified in claim 1.
The devices per this invention for percutaneous or transcutaneous access into the body utilize magnetostatic forces both for providing the necessay coupling pressure and for aligning and positioning the external part of the access port relative to the implanted part. The result is a junction which the user can handle with significantly greater ease. Positioning can be facilitated by using asymmetric, for instance elongated permanent magnets. The north and south poles of the magnets do not line up toward the inside of the body as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,303 but, instead, along the body opening. In other words, the permanent magnet and its poles extend parallel to the surface skin of the body.
Of particular advantage is a connection between the inside of the body and the external area of the body which is inherently asymmetric. This is true for instance when multiple individual passages in the case of a percutaneous connection cannot be configured symmetrically. It is also a factor when two asymmetric, flat coils of a transcutaneous connection must be aligned with each other.